Israeli court charges Arab who travelled to Syria to fight with rebels against Assad regime

JERUSALEM – Israel has arrested and charged an Israeli Arab for traveling to the "enemy state" of Syria to fight on the side of the rebels in the neighboring country's civil war.

The Shin Bet internal security service says it arrested Hakmat Matzrawa last month. It says the 29-year-old Matzrawa admitted that he received military training by the rebels in Syria and was questioned about Israel extensively.

The service says the rebels asked Matzrawa to carry out a suicide attack against President Bashar Assad's regime and an attack in Israel, but that he refused.

He was charged on Wednesday with contacting a foreign agent, receiving military training and leaving Israel illegally.

Israel is trying to stay out of the Syrian civil war, which has inched dangerously close to its northern border.